Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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Wetland expansion in SA's lower South East
Ben Taylor got more than he bargained for when he was asked to map and document the wetlands of South Australia's Lower South East.
As Wetlands Project Officer with the SA Department for Environment and Heritage, Ben is responsible for assessing the extent, health and ecological character of all the wetlands in the area.
When he started the project in early 2004 existing mapping indicated there were 428 sites. Now updated mapping shows there are over 13,000.
So the Wetland Restoration in the Lower South East project has greatly expanded knowledge of the area's wetlands.
Funding
Work was supported with $195,000 from the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust and contributions from the State Government.
"When I started work on this project I thought I'd be surveying 428 wetlands," Ben said.
"I planned to visit the wetlands in person and conduct field surveys. However, as I started to visit some of the sites I drove past areas that looked suspiciously like wetlands, but were not featured on existing mapping.
"It became apparent very early on that existing wetland mapping of the area, which covers 9000 square kilometres from the Victorian border, along the coast, north to Kingston and across to Naracoorte, was grossly inadequate.
"This was a matter of concern because several agencies use such mapping to make decisions that potentially impact upon wetlands, including the assessment of development applications.
Activities
"We've used aerial surveys, infra-red aerial photography and field surveys to update the wetlands mapping. The exercise is nearly complete, and so far we have identified 13,324 individual wetlands and expanded the total area officially recognised as wetland from 38,194 hectares to over 101,000 hectares.
"The Lower South East was once 50 per cent wetland. It was a vast wetland area that would have made Kakadu look small, but since the area was cleared and drained for agriculture over decades many wetlands disappeared and of those that remain, thousands are degraded.
"As a result of the updated mapping, we have identified 65 "pristine" wetlands. The next step is to prioritise the wetlands of the entire South East region according to conservation significance.
"We're also undertaking practical restoration work on a number of wetlands. With over 13,000 wetlands to choose from, we relied heavily on local knowledge to identify which sites to work on.
"It's been a great opportunity for us to protect wetlands on private land and to form partnerships with interested landholders."
More information
- Ben Taylor, SA Department for Environment and Heritage Wetlands Project Officer (Lower South East): (08) 8735 1144 or taylor.ben@saugov.sa.gov.au
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